Take this lovingly crafted battlefield diorama, first noticed by Aviation Week’sRobert Wall, who’s been all over the air show story. Using what appear to be detailed plans, a contractor at the show built a model U.S. aircraft carrier in Chinese waters complete with hovering F-22s. As wall notes, the presence of the two systems depicted in Chinese territory provides a glimpse of what features prominently in Chinese military thinking.

If you’re not satisfied with aircraft meant for human conflict, then stop by the SL-200 exhibit for a look at China’s latest platform in the war against nature. The SL-200 is a Chinese drone purportedly intended for seeding clouds. China’s been a big proponent of geoengineering and has been turning to cloud seeding with rockets, airplanes and anti-aircraft guns in order to make up for rainfall shortages. But why does a weather machine need to be stealth like the SL-200 is? Why, to make it past cumulonimbus‘ sophisticated air defense missiles, silly. You ask too many questions.

And then there’s China’s origami drone, the ASN-213 from the Xi’an ASN Technology Group. It’s a light five kilogram miniature drone whose 2 meter wingspan can fold back to about a third its size — sort of like a less sophisticated version of Darpa’s self-folding transformer drone.

Big ticket sales have drawn headlines at the show. Yesterday, China announced it had received 100 orders for its new C919 commercial jumbo jet, showing up western companies that traditionally dominated the Asian market and signaling China’s rise as an aerospace power.